Archive for June, 2010

Recovery beat the other two highest debuts of the year, from Sade and Lady Antebellum, by more than 200,000. It also easily beat the debut last year of his Relapse album, which hit #1 with 608,000.

In fact, not only is Recovery, which leaked several weeks early, the year’s best debut, it had the biggest first week since AC/DC’s Black Ice bowed with 784,000 back in 2008. The strong debut also gave Em his sixth-consecutive #1 album.

According to Billboard, Recovery also sold 225,000 downloads for the second-biggest digital week in history, behind Coldplay’s Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, which clocked 288,000 downloads when it was released in the summer of 2008.

The rapper’s collaboration with Rihanna on “Love the Way You Lie” also made a lot of noise on Billboard’s Digital Songs chart, debuting at #1 with 338,000 downloads.

But Brown himself has not spoken publicly about what caused him to choke up onstage, so it’s unknown why he was unable to complete the song after his thrilling dance tribute to the late King of Pop. One hint, though, emerged on Monday, when R&B singer Lloyd seemed to say that he advised Brown to shed tears during the performance.

“He’s back with a vengeance,” Lloyd told Rap-Up.com after the show, where he was nominated in the Viewer’s Choice category for his hook on Young Money’s “Bed Rock.” “I think that they’re gonna find a place in their heart for him again. … I told him, man, you gotta get up there. You gotta cry, you gotta really show your heart to the world.”

After some backlash, Lloyd took to his blog on Tuesday to clarify his remarks. “I consider Chris a friend. He’s been through a lot in the past couple years,” Lloyd wrote. “I never told him to go onstage and cry. We spoke recently, and I told him as a friend that people hadn’t really seen him be vulnerable about his situation last year [with Rihanna]. I thought he was holding back and needed to let that emotion out. Him crying at the BET Awards was real, I could feel it.”

He also speculated about the possible source of those tears, saying Brown may have cried “about the fact that he thought people would hate him forever because of one mistake. Feeling that love on stage was probably overwhelming. Plus MJ being gone and him performing ‘Man in the Mirror,’ that song is powerful, especially for his situation. It pushed him over the edge.”

King announced the decision to end “Larry King Live” earlier Tuesday (June 29) on his blog. “I want to share some personal news with you,” he wrote. “Twenty-five years ago, I sat across this table from New York Governor Mario Cuomo for the first broadcast of ‘Larry King Live.’ Now, decades later, I talked to the guys here at CNN and I told them I would like to end ‘Larry King Live,’ the nightly show, this fall and CNN has graciously accepted, giving me more time for my wife and I to get to the kids’ little league games.

“I’ll still be a part of the CNN family, hosting several Larry King specials on major national and international subjects,” he added.

Jon Klein, president of CNN/US, said of King’s departure: “He will end his run with ‘Larry King Live’ on his own terms, sometime this fall. Larry is a beloved member of the CNN family and will continue to contribute to our air with periodic specials.”

“To see [Chris'] performance, it was very emotional for me, because it was an acceptance from his fans from what has happened to him and also paying tribute to my brother,” Jermaine said. “It was just a spectacular moment.”

Fans and critics have been split on the performance, which some saw as the bursting of an emotional dam for the singer, making his first major public appearance since he pleaded guilty to felony assault in his assault of former girlfriend Rihanna last June. Others speculated that Brown may have manufactured the tears to gain sympathy from fans who abandoned him in the wake of the Rihanna attack.

Jermaine Jackson said he thought Brown — a longtime devotee of Michael’s and, at one point, considered a modern heir to the R&B throne — had every right to pay homage to his brother. “He deserves to perform, because it’s healing for him,” Jermaine said. “How can he learn from his mistakes if you don’t give him a chance? He needs that. I love Rihanna, and I’m not supporting what he did, but I support him [as a singer] 100 percent. … I’m just very emotional just knowing what has happened. Chris Brown is a human being, and we all make mistakes. We can’t condemn him for what has happened. We hope he has learned from it.”

According to The Advocate newspaper, Boosie appeared in court for just a few minutes, looking somber, surrounded by six law enforcement officers and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, with his wrists and ankles shackled. He told state District Judge Mike Erwin he was not guilty of one count of first-degree murder, two counts of conspiracy to introduce contraband into a penal institution, three counts of possession with intent to distribute narcotics and three counts of conspiracy to commit possession with intent to distribute narcotics.

Boosie was ordered to return to court on October 14. The rapper’s attorney, entertainment lawyer Marcus Allen, told reporters afterward that his client is “absolutely not guilty,” adding, “We’re going to be preparing our defense. We have no idea what the evidence is. There’s a lot of rumor and innuendo.”

Earlier this month, The Advocate reported that East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said that investigators are looking into whether Boosie and others have ties to at least five other killings in the area since last year that have followed a similar murder-for-hire template as the Boyd slaying. Hillar said on Monday that his office hasn’t decided yet whether to pursue the death penalty against Boosie on the murder charge, but said it was “obviously” an option.

Boosie is accused of paying men to kill Boyd and of conspiring with his girlfriend, Walnita Decuir and a former prison guard to introduce contraband — in this case, illegal drugs such as codeine pills and synthetic marijuana — into the prison where the rapper is being held. He also faces a third charge involving drugs and conspiracy. Boosie pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

RapRadar.com also posted a photo of Em shooting the scene, which features the hip-hop star in the foreground as a gigantic First Aid sign — which is part of the artwork for Recovery — looms above a crowd of actors and crew members.

Even though Recovery dropped just last week, Ellin is confident that the album will be a smash. Ellin told EW that the Eminem scene is set “at a platinum record party for his album, which by the time this airs [on September 12] will be platinum, I’m sure.”

Em’s “Entourage” guest spot also probably means that everything is cool between the hip-hop star and the show’s executive producer Mark Wahlberg, with whom Mathers shared a famously tense appearance with the beefy rapper-turned-actor on MTV’s “TRL” in 1999.

“Hottest Breakthrough MCs of 2010″ Candidate: Pill

Fourteen months ago, Pill had the trap going ham for his street pharmaceuticals. The young rapper struck gold when he dropped his rugged video for “Trap Goin’ Ham.” Rapping with a Corona in his hand, he showed women in his neighborhood smoking Newports and dudes rolling blunts.

It was uncut, real and raw, and it gave you a flashback to that unflinching peak of ATL when some of the greats, such as Outkast and T.I., showed their lives in Georgia. Since then, Pill has become a favorite of hip-hop bloggers with his mixtapes 4180: The Prescription, 4075: The Refill and 1140: The Overdose.

“It’s surreal, man. When you start off, you hope you can make it to this place,” Pill said of his growing popularity. “4180 was my first solo project ever. I went from zero to 60.”

With that trilogy done, Pill is working on a brand-new tape, sans the medicinal theme, with DJ Holiday and the Empire. His debut LP should be dropping sometime in the fourth quarter or top of 2011.